NIRAD JAIN: Bain & Company just published our ninth annual Healthcare Private Equity and Corporate M&A report, and it shows that healthcare PE investing had a blowout year in 2019, setting an all-time record of $79 billion of announced deal value. That was driven by a 58% increase in North American deal value, but also increases in Europe.

Investors flocked to healthcare in the face of increased macroeconomic uncertainty, but also because of the trends underlying healthcare demand, including demand for more healthcare services around the globe, an aging population and continued technology advancement in the sector.

As we've talked about previously, healthcare is one of the best returning verticals within private equity and particularly in times of macroeconomic uncertainty. So PE investors became increasingly bold on their activity in the healthcare sector, with a 25% increase in average deal value and an unprecedented 27 deals over $1 billion in value.

In our report, we talk about the explosion in healthcare IT investing, the increased use of data and advanced analytics in the sector, and how investors are thinking about regulatory changes, as well as the upcoming US election. Read about those topics, as well as what we think is in store for 2020 and beyond, in our report.